The Lady Toppers had little trouble pinpointing senior forward Arnika Brown as the team’s emotional leader this season.

“She’s very vocal,” senior guard Kenzie Rich said of Brown. “She gets a little and-one play, and she gets very pumped up. Some people feed off that.”

Brown has had a unique career at Western.

The Hopkinsville native and 2006 Kentucky Miss Basketball committed to the University of Kentucky out of high school. She transferred to Western in spring 2007 and became eligible to play at the conclusion of the fall 2007 semester.

Brown had an immediate impact for the Lady Toppers, averaging 10.3 points and 7.6 rebounds in the second half of the season.

Despite winning the Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year award in 2008, this season will be Brown’s last at Western.

Due to eligibility issues because she wasn’t released by UK before transferring, she is now listed as a senior after only three years on the roster.

“I feel really good about this being my last year, but of course I haven’t been here for four,” Brown said. “I can’t wait to get out there and just play.”

Head Coach Mary Taylor Cowles said that she and Brown were both aware that this would be Brown’s final season when she transferred.

“That’s not something that just came across my desk this afternoon, and we said, ‘Oh no, how are we going to deal with this?’” Cowles said. “We’ve known that all along, so it’s not really changed her mentality at all.”

Brown led Western in both scoring (14.4 points per game) and rebounding (11.6 per game) last season, and her current career rebounding average of 9.8 per game is a program record.

She averaged 10 rebounds per game in the Lady Toppers’ two preseason exhibitions.

“I’m not 6 feet 7 (inches),” Brown said. “I’m pretty much just a normal-sized person. But I think it’s my ability to get out there and have an advantage athletically.”

Last season was also riddled with distractions for Brown, who faced legal proceedings stemming from an August 2008 arrest for use of counterfeit money.

Brown was charged with 11 counts of third-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument and five counts of theft by deception under $300 but reached a plea agreement in October.

She was sentenced to two years of probation, 50 hours community service and fines.

“Now I can take a deep breath and play,” Brown said.

Rich said Brown’s ability to put the incident behind her has been a big relief to the whole team.

“After it all worked out, Coach Cowles said we could all take a deep breath,” Rich said. “We were all there for her and supporting her, so it’s helped everybody.”

After the adversity she’s faced throughout her career, Brown said that she’s ready to get back to how things were when she first arrived at Western.

“When I first got here, we won the Sun Belt,” Brown said. “That’s like the feeling I have again. There’s pretty much nothing on my shoulders.”